And my high school literature was predominately pro-Jewish and pro-African American culture. The 'Christian' texts we read were inflammatory stuff like John Edwards' revival sermons and fundamentalist extreme ideas like in "The Scarlet Letter."

Are you suggesting that The Scarlet Letter actually espouses "fundamentalist extreme ideas"?

And my high school literature was predominately pro-Jewish and pro-African American culture. The 'Christian' texts we read were inflammatory stuff like John Edwards' revival sermons and fundamentalist extreme ideas like in "The Scarlet Letter."

Are you suggesting that The Scarlet Letter actually espouses "fundamentalist extreme ideas"?

Well, it's not as if Hawthorne changed his name to distance himself from the Puritan past...

And my high school literature was predominately pro-Jewish and pro-African American culture. The 'Christian' texts we read were inflammatory stuff like John Edwards' revival sermons and fundamentalist extreme ideas like in "The Scarlet Letter."

But you misunderstand my point. If you're going to argue that we should teach Christianity as a culture, than why emphasize religious texts, like Edwards' sermons? We should study the cultural output of that culture. And that's what we do - with nearly every book in a European or American literature class.

It would make me feel uncomfortable as a student to study the bible in public school, especially if not in a comparative setting with other "equally important" religious texts.

I agree that the bible def can be taught in a secular setting, and is probably important for understanding some literature, but I think it is better taught as an optional class in college.

If the Quran were allowed to be studied outside of the Arabic language, it could be taught in the same class as the Bible, The Bhagavad-Gita, The Torah (first 5 books of the Bible, granted), etc. I would be OK with that. I'd feel uncomfortable reading the other books, but isn't part of education feeling uncomfortable?

P.P.S You probably read lots of pro-Christian lit in high school, and you didn't notice. Just off the top of my head, you may have read Graham Greene, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, John Milton, Dante, and/or John Bunyan.

But you misunderstand my point. If you're going to argue that we should teach Christianity as a culture, than why emphasize religious texts, like Edwards' sermons? We should study the cultural output of that culture. And that's what we do - with nearly every book in a European or American literature class.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but wouldn't you have to study the culture to get to the cultural output?